Four people are facing felony forgery charges for allegedly attempting to steal $388 from the WinCo Foods in Centralia by attempting to cash forged coin machine receipts on Saturday.
The suspects — identified as Nehemiah C. Beavers, 32, of Vancouver; Emily Elizabeth Gilbert, 30, of Vancouver; Riley Ann Hanson, 21, of Everett; and Kiah L. Thomas, 18, of Milawukee, Oregon — were arrested after WinCo staff recognized them from a “be on the lookout” notification the store recently received from corporate, according to court documents.
Three of the four suspects, who were associated with a white sedan, were identified as having allegedly been “running a scam on WinCos” in Washington, Oregon and California.
The scam, according to court documents, involved the suspects going into the WinCo, making a low-value transaction on the store’s Coinstar machine and then briefly leaving the store. The suspects would then allegedly return to the store, select items to purchase, go to the checkout stand and present a forged Coinstar receipt, which showed a much higher value than the low-value transaction the suspects just conducted.
“The cashier would subtract the value of the groceries from the forged Coinstar receipt and then give the suspect cash out of the value left on the forged receipt,” according to court documents.
The three suspects had allegedly conducted the scam at WinCo locations in Fresno, California; Portland, Oregon; Beaverton, Oregon; Kent, Washington; and Eureka, California. The suspects allegedly scammed the Kent and Eureka stores twice and the other locations once, according to court documents.
According to the Centralia WinCo manager, WinCo’s internal reports showed that “the store has lost over $2,200 to this type of scam.”
On Saturday, April 26, staff at the Centralia WinCo reportedly notified the store manager that the scam suspects were inside the store.
Security footage from the store reportedly showed Hanson make a 64-cent transaction at the Coinstar machine before getting in line at the checkout to make a purchase.
Hanson allegedly used a Coinstar receipt for $388.53 to purchase $15.74 in merchandise, receiving $372.79 in change, according to court documents.
Hanson reportedly completed her in-store purchase and exited the store, but was stopped by the store’s loss prevention employees before she left the property, according to court documents.
Hanson allegedly still had a 64-cent Coinstar receipt in her possession when she was contacted by loss prevention employees.
A responding officer with the Centralia Police Department noted that the forged Coinstar receipt was made using actual Coinstar receipt paper.
Officers reportedly located the white sedan and found Thomas and Gilbert inside. A fourth suspect, a male later identified as Beavers, allegedly fled the scene on foot before officers could stop him.
When questioned, Thomas allegedly admitted to printing the fake receipts, stating that the male suspect who fled the scene “had a printer for making the receipts in his backpack,” according to court documents.
She later allegedly said “she had only done this in Oregon yesterday and Centralia today,” and said she learned how to do the scam “on the internet.”
The three women were arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on theft and forgery charges at approximately 11:39 p.m. on April 26.
While in custody, Gilbert allegedly called Beaver using the jail phone — which is recorded at all times — and “discussed that there was still a bunch of stuff in the car but that he took what he was able to,” with the male informing Gilbert that the car had been towed by police.
Officers who searched the vehicle reportedly found more Coinstar receipts from Portland, Oregon; Tigard; Oregon; Vancouver, Camas, Happy Valley and Seattle, according to court documents.
Beavers, who was identified as a suspect via WinCo surveillance footage, was located and arrested on Harrison Avenue in Centralia on Sunday, April 27, according to court documents.
Officers reportedly found a small portable printer, a laptop and a roll of Coinstar printer paper inside his backpack at the time of his arrest.
He was booked into the Lewis County Jail at approximately 9:16 a.m. on April 27, according to jail records.
Beavers and Hanson were each charged Monday, April 28, in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of second-degree burglary, one count of forgery and one count of third-degree theft.
Gilbert and Thomas were each charged with one count of forgery and one count of first-degree theft.
Forgery is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Second-degree burglary is a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Third-degree theft is a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in prison.
The second-degree burglary charges stem from Beavers and Hanson having allegedly been seen on WinCo property after previously being trespassed from all WinCo locations.
Bail for Beavers and Hanson is set at $25,000 each. Bail for Gilbert and Thomas is set at $20,000 each.
Arraignment hearings are scheduled for Thursday, May 1.
